Record number get hitched on 11/11/11 in Ventura County office

Bart Maciejewski and Veronica Barber, of Ventura, give a high five as they get married at the County Clerk's office at the Ventura County Government Center. It was a busier than usual day for marriages because of the date 11-11-11.

Ventura County Star

When Richard Kimbrel asked Lori Asher to marry him, there was no hesitation to her saying, "yes."

But when she would be willing to tie the knot was a different story.

Asher is a women of numbers. She believes in their power and the luck they can bring. Seven is her favorite. She once invested in real estate because the numbers in the address added up to seven. She'll ask to swap seats with the person next to her at a concert so she can sit in the seventh one. When the Agoura Hills woman changed her name, she consulted a numerologist to make sure it was a lucky one.

So when she had to pick a day to get married, 11/11/11 was an easy choice.

"It means a new beginning and a new start," Asher, said on Friday as she got ready to walk down the aisle of the Ventura County Government Center. "All the different 11s have significance."

A record number of people embarked on new starts Friday when the Ventura County Clerk and Recorder's office saw more than 40 people get hitched on the day that is a palindrome. That's more than they see on any Valentine's Day and nearly triple what they see on any given Friday, said David Valenzuela, a division manager with the office. Some people came from Los Angeles because the government offices there closed for Veterans Day.

Las Vegas also was seeing record numbers of people getting married on the date that comes around every 100 years.

Though a horror movie simply called "11-11-11" came out Friday, the halls of the Ventura County Government Center were nothing but jubilation as women mulled around the lobby clutching white flower bouquets while they filled out paperwork and waited for their names to be called.

Sarah Ratsamikiattisak knew her special day had to have a special number associated with it.

"One is my favorite number," said the 24-year-old who drove up from Hollywood just so she could get married on this day. She called some wedding chapels in Las Vegas, but they were all booked.

"If you don't get married on this day, you'd have to wait until 12-12-12," she said. Having a bunch of ones to celebrate her marriage to Suradej Yuvanasiri made the happy day all that much better.

"It looks nice when you write out all the numbers," she said.

But Anthony Martinez has a much more pragmatic reason for the date.

"It's easy to remember," he said shorty before he and Wendy Garcia got married.

She liked the idea of doing it on that day and made the appointment back in January for 11 a.m., hoping to get married at 11:11 a.m. on 11/11/11. But the lengthy paperwork kept that from happening.

Though many requested to get married at 11:11 a.m., the two wedding rooms for the day were empty at that time. To appease people, Valenzuela set the clock to that time and took out the batteries.

Maria Castillo and Guillermo Ramirez started at 1111 so it was only fitting they have their wedding date on the same number. The car dealership where they both worked and met had an address that started with 1111 and it's been nothing but bliss since then, so they wanted to keep the good luck rolling.